Terje Oestigaard

Horus' Eye and Osiris' Efflux: the Egyptian Civilisation of Inundation C. 3000-2000 Bce (Bar International) Terje Oestigaard

The principal objective of this study is to develop a synthetic perspective for enhancing the understanding of the religious roles water had in the rise and constitution of the Egyptian civilisation during the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom. By comparing the development of funerary monuments and practices with the emergence of the Osiris cult in relation to climatic changes and fluctuations in the Niles yearly inundation, Ancient Egyptian religion and the rise of the civilisation is analyzed according to a water perspective. It is noted that the Blue Nile was not blue, but red-brownish during the flood. When the flood started, the White Nile was not white, but green. The author argues that these fundamental characteristics of the Nile water formed the basis for the Osiris mythology. The red floodwaters in particular represented the blood of the slain Osiris.